Device for hammering in nails



Oct. 16, 1934. A. GRUIS DEVICE FOR HAMMERING IN NAILS Filed June 3, 1953 2 SheetsSheet l FIG] inventor: fir ds Oct. 16, 1934. A. GRUIS DEVICE FOR HAMMERING IVN NAILS Filed June 3, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Unvemfm 6mm W jlm W7 W Patented Oct. 16, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

In my co-pending application ,for Letters Patent Serial No. 610,693 is disclosed amongst other things, in conjunction with apparatus for driving in nails, a controlling device for the nails, which are conveyed into a descending passage, to be driven into a piece of work by a piston striker.

By this invention an improvement in the controlling device is provided. The invention consists particularly in the fact that the controlling 1 device for the nails is arranged in the immediate neighbourhood of a descending passage, which is kept very short in a known manner, and comprises a conveying member, for instance a rocking lever, which, with one of its rocking arms,

engages a nail throughout its entire length and conveys it into the short descending passage. By such an arrangement and design of the control+ ling device the result is obtained that the nail feed works in a particularly reliable and rapid manner, so that work can be done with the nailhammering device very rapidly.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a side view of an appliance for hammering in nails with a controlling device according to the present invention,

Figure 2 a side view of the lower part of the appliance according to Figure 1 on a larger scale, and with several individual parts removed,

Figure 3 a similar side view but with individual parts in different positions and with a further individual part removed, Figure 4 a side view of the lower part of the device in a plane at right angles to that of Figures 2 and 3, and

Figure 5 a section on the line VV in Figure 4.

In the drawings, 1 denotes a striker-piston cylinder, 5 a lever for admitting compressed air which drives downwards a striker piston, not

shown, which, with a mandrel, likewise not illustrated, drives a nail, provided in a descending passage '7, between guiding jaws 13 into a piece of work. The guiding jaws are subject to the action of a spring 14. While the striker piston, not shown, is being driven down, the air under the piston escapes through apertures which are surrounded by a perforated sleeve 12. A portion of that compressed air which has driven the striker piston downwards is supplied by an annular passage 28. a pipe 24a, and a connection, for instance an India rubber tube or hose 40, to a control cylinder 24. In this control cylinder a piston 25 can move under the action of compressed air and a spring 41, immediately after one nail has been hammered in, for the purpose of conveying a further nail into the descending passage 7.

Germany June 4, 1932 Of particular importance are the means by which the nail is conveyed into the descending passage 7. According to this invention a simple conveying member is provided, for instance a rocking lever 42, of which one arm 43 is connected with the piston rod 44. The rocking lever 42 also has an arm 45, of which the edge 45' is made comparatively long when considered in connection with the length of the nails. The object of gieaking the edge 45' particularly long is explained low.

As soon as the striker piston is driven down, a portion of the compressed air that is above the piston passes through the flexible tube 40 into the cylinder 24. The piston 25 is hereby pushed up, and the rocking lever 42 is rocked in the direction of the arrow 46 in Figure 3. The nails, hanging down with their shanks in a groove or raceway 18, can slide forward, after the rocking of the lever 42, through a distance equal to the :5 thickness of a nail, so that the lowest nail comes to lie (Fig. 5) in front of the edge 45 of the arm 45.

It may also be mentioned that the channel or raceway 18 is formed by the members 18' and 30 18''. In Figure 2 only the member 18' is shown,

while in Figure 3 the members 18' and 18" are entirely left out.

In order that the nail hanging in front of the edge 45 may not be able to slip of itself into the 5 descending passage 7, in the event of the apparatus being shaken for instance, a locking member is provided, for instance a spring 47. This spring, with its outermost bent end, holds the nail firmly at first in the position illustrated in Figure 5. Upon the air pressure in the cylinder 24 ceasing, the spring 41 draws the lever arm 43 downwards in a direction opposite to that of the arrow 46. The nail hanging in front of the edge 45' is thereby pressed by this edge into the descending passage 7, the spring 47- springing back, to reassume its previous position immediately after the liberation of the nail. At the next hammering operation the series of movements described is repeated afresh.

Another important feature of the apparatus according to the invention is a compressed-air nozzle 48, which opens in the feeding groove 18 in the neighbourhood of the rocking arm 45. To this compressed+air nozzle, by means of a tube or hose 49, compressed air is supplied, which is taken from the cylinder 24. This compressed air assists the forward movement of a portion of the nails hanging in the channel 18, so that the last nail passes reliably and in an upright position in front of the edge 45' of the arm 45. By the compressed air introduced into the channel 18, therefore, the lowest nail is prevented from assuming an oblique position in front of the edge 45' and thereby disturbing the operation of the machine.

By 50 is denoted a releasable member, which can easily be removed from the apparatus, there-, by affording access to the descending passage '1.

The particularly long shape or form of the edge 45' is of special importance. The nail to be driven in is engaged throughout its entire length by-the edge 45' and moved into the descending passage. The nail remains substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the descending passage, which is of great importance for the quick operation of the device. If the nail to be moved into the descending passage were engaged by the conveying lever only at its head end, the lower end of the nail would remain behind during the quick advancement of the The nail would pass obliquely into the descending passage whereby the free fall of the nail in the descending passage would be prevented. Tests have shown that this leads to working interruptions. In the case of the oblique insertion of the nails in the descending passage a comparatively slow tempo would not be exceeded.

In order to attain an unobstructed fall of the nail in the descending passage, the nail to be conveyed in the descending passage is engaged by the edge 45' of the lever-45 throughout its entire length anduniformly advanced. As soon as the nail has passed into the descending passage the nail falls down freely. As is shown, this takes place in a very short time so that the nail can then be driven in by the striker piston. Owing to the special type of thenail feeding device, namely the use of the two-armed rocking lever, of which one radial arm is connected with the control piston and the other arm is disposed parallel to the striker piston cylinder, not only working interruptions in the feed of the nail are prevented but the result is also obtained that the feeding of the nail is effected in a very short time.

What I claim is:-

1. An appliance for driving in nails by means of compressed air, comprising a striker piston cylinder, a descending passage below said cylinder, the descending passage and the striker piston cylinder having the same central axis, a nail feeding channel for keeping the nails slidable on their heads, a two-armed rocking lever with its rocking axis vertical to the central axis of' the striker piston cylinder, a control cylinder, a piston therein, one arm of said rocking lever being disposed radially to the striker piston cylinder and being pivotally connected to the piston of the control cylinder, the other arm of the rocking lever being disposed parallel to the de-' scending passage and having a conveying edge rockable up to the descending passage.

2. An appliance for driving in nails by-means of compressed air, comprising a striker piston cylinder, a descending passage below said cylinder, the descending passage and the striker piston cylinder having the same central axis, a nail feeding channel for keeping the nails slidable.

on their heads, a two-armed spring pressed rocking lever arranged with its rocking axis vertical to the central axis of the striker piston cylinder, a control cylinder,- a piston therein, one arm of said rocking lever being disposed radially to the striker piston cylinder and pivotally connected to the piston of the control cylinder, the other arm of the rocking leverbeing disposed parallel to the descending passage and having a conveying edge rockable up to the descending passage, and the conveying edge being longer than the nails to be driven in and adapted to engage the nails throughout their entire length and to move them out of the nail feeding channel into the descending passage.

3. An appliance for driving in nails by means of compressed air, comprising a striker piston cylinder, a descending passage below said cylinder, the descending passage and the strikerpiston cylinder having the same central axis, a nail feeding channel on the strik r piston cylinder, the nail feeding channel bein adapted to keep the nails slidable on their heads, a two-armed spring pressed rocking lever arranged with its rocking axis vertical to the central axis of the striker piston cylinder, a control cylinder, a piston on the control cylinder, one arm of this rocking lever being disposed radially to the striker piston cylinder and pivotally connected to the piston of the control cylinder, the other arm of the rocking lever being disposed parallel to the descending passage and having a conveying edge rockable up to the descending passage, the conveying edge being longer than the nails to be driven in and adapted to engage the nails throughout their entire length and to move them out of the nail feeding channel into the descending passage, and a locking spring for the nails between the last named arm of the rocking lever and the descending passage.

4. An appliance for driving in nails by means of compressed air, comprising a striker piston cylinder, a descending passage below said cylinder, the descending passage and the striker piston cylinder having the same central axis, a nail feeding channel .on the striker piston cylinder, the nail feeding channel being adapted to keep the nails slidable on their heads, a two-armed spring pressed rocking lever arranged with its rocking axis vertical to the central axis of the striker piston cylinder, a control cylinder disposed parallel to the striker piston cylinder, a piston in the control cylinder, one arm of this rocking lever being disposed radially to the striker piston cylinder and pivotally connected to the piston in the control cylinder, the other arm of the rocking lever being disposed parallel to the descending passage and having a conveying edge rockable up to the descending passage, the con-' veying edge being longer than the nails to be driven in and adapted to engage the nails throughout their entire length and to move them no out of the nail feeding channel into the descending passage, and a locking spring for. the nails between the last named arm of the rocking lever and the descending passage.

5. An appliance for driving in nails by means of compressed air, comprising a striker piston cylinder, a descending passage below said cylinder, the descending passage and the striker piston cylinder having the same central axis, a nail feeding channel on the striker piston cylinder, 0 the nail feeding channel being adapted to keep the nails slidable on their heads, a two-armed spring pressed rocking lever arranged with its rocking axis vertical to the central axis of the striker piston cylinder, a control cylinder disposed parallel to the striker piston cylinder, a pisston in the control cylinder, one arm of this rocking. lever being disposed radially to the striker piston cylinder and pivotally connected to the piston in the control cylinder, the otherarm 150 of the rocking lever being disposed parallel to the descending passage and having a conveying edge rockable up to the descending passage, the conveying edge being longer than the nails to be driven in and adapted to engage the nails throughout their entire length and to move them out of the nail feeding channel into the descending passage, a locking spring for the nails between the last named arm of the rocking lever and the descending passage, and a compressed air nozzle opening obliquely into the nail feeding channel for displacing the shankends oi the nails in the nail feeding channel into the position in front of the rocking lever arm.

6. An appliance for driving in nails by means of compressed air, comprising a striker piston cylinder, a descending passage below said cylinder, the descending passage and the striker piston cylinder having the same central axis, a nail feeding channel on the striker piston cylinder, the nail feeding channel being adapted to keep the nails slidable on their heads, a two-armed spring pressed rocking lever arranged "with its rocking axis vertical to the central axis of the striker piston cylinder, 8. control cylinder disposed parallel to the striker piston cylinder, 9. piston in the control cylinder, one arm of this rocking lever being disposed radially to the striker piston cyland having a conveying edge rockable up to thedescending passage; the conveying edge being longer than the nails to be driven in and adapted to engage the nails throughout their entire length and to move them out of the nail feeding channel into the descending passage, a locking spring for the nails between the last named arm of the rocking lever and the descending passage, a com-" pressed air nozzle opening obliquely into the nail feeding channel for displacing the shank ends of the nails in the nail feeding channel into the position in front of the rocking lever arm, and a flexible tube for conveying compressed air from the control cylinder to the nozzle in the nail feeding channel.

ADOLF Gains. 

